xvi, 510 pages : 23 cm

Includes bibliographical references (pages 495-196) and index

pt. 1. The early church -- The fullness of time -- Judaism in Palestine -- Diaspora Judaism -- The Greco-Roman world -- The Church in Jerusalem -- Unity and diversity -- Religious life -- The waning of the Jewish church -- Mission to the Gentiles -- The scope of the mission -- Paul's work -- The apostles: facts and legends -- First conflicts with the state -- A new Jewish sect -- Persecution under Nero -- Persecution under Domitian -- Persecution in the second century -- The correspondence between Pliny and Trajan -- Ignatius of Antioch, the bearer of God -- The martyrdom of Polycarp -- Persecution under Marcus Aurelius -- Toward the end of the second century -- The defense of the faith -- Base rumors and lofty criticism -- The main apologists -- Christian faith and pagan culture -- The arguments of the apologists -- The deposit of the faith -- Gnosticism -- Marcion -- The response: canon, creed, and apostolic succession -- The ancient Catholic Church -- The teachers of the Church -- Irenaeus of Lyons -- Clement of Alexandria -- Tertullian of Carthage -- Origen of Alexandria -- Persecution in the third century -- Persecution under Septimius Severus -- Under Decius -- The question of the Lapsed: Cyprian and Novatian -- Christian life -- The social origins of early Christians -- Christian worship -- The organization of the Church -- Missionary methods -- The beginnings of Christian art -- The great persecution and the final victory -- pt. II. The imperial church -- Constantine -- From Rome to Constantinople -- From the unconquered sun to Jesus Christ -- From persecution to dominance -- The impact of the new order -- Reactions to the new order -- Official theology: Eusebius of Caesarea -- The monastic reaction -- The origins of monasticism -- The first monks of the desert -- Pachomius and communal monasticism -- The spread of the monastic ideal -- The schismatic reaction: Donatism -- The Arian controversy and the Council of Nicea -- The outbreak of the controversy -- The Council of Nicea -- The pagan reaction: Julian the apostate -- Julian's religious policy -- Athanasius of Alexandria -- The early years -- Through many trials -- A theological agreement -- Further trials -- The great Cappadocians -- Macrina -- Basil the great -- Gregory of Nyssa -- Gregory of Nazianzus -- Ambrose of Milan -- An unexpected election -- The Bishop and the throne -- John Chrysostom -- A voice from the wilderness -- Return to the wilderness -- Jerome -- Augustine of Hippo -- A tortuous path to faith -- Minister and theologian of the Western Church -- Beyond the borders of the empire -- The end of an era -- pt. III. Medieval Christianity -- The new order -- The Germanic Kingdoms -- Benedictine monasticism -- The papacy -- The Arab conquests -- Eastern Christianity -- The Christological debates to the Council of Chalcedon -- Further theological debates -- The dissident churches of the East -- Eastern orthodoxy after the Arab conquests -- Imperial restoration and continuing decay -- Charlemagne's reign -- Theological activity -- New invasions -- Decay in the papacy -- Movements of renewal -- Monastic reform -- Canonical and papal reform -- The papacy and the empire in direct confrontation -- The offensive against Islam -- The first Crusade -- Later history of the Crusades -- The Spanish reconquista -- Consequences of the offensive against Islam -- The golden age of Medieval Christianity -- The Mendicant Orders -- One flock under one shepherd -- Theological activity: Scholasticism -- Missionary endeavors -- Stones that bear witness: architecture -- The collapse -- New conditions -- The papacy under the shadow of France -- The Great Western schism -- In quest of Reformation -- The Conciliar Movement -- John Wyclif -- John Huss -- Girolamo Savonarola -- The mystical alternative -- Popular movements -- Renaissance and humanism -- The later course of Scholasticism -- The revival of classical learning -- A new vision of reality -- The popes and the Renaissance -- pt. IV. The beginnings of Colonial Christianity -- Spain and the new world -- The nature of the Spanish enterprise -- The protest -- The Caribbean -- Mexico -- Golden castile -- Florida -- Columbia and Venezuela -- The four corners of the earth: the Incan empire -- La Plata -- The Portuguese enterprise -- Africa -- Toward the rising sun -- Brazil -- The New World and the Old

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